I hate straight singing. I have to change a tune to my own way of doing it. That's all I know.

I don't think I ever sing the same way twice. The blues is sort of a mixed-up thing. You just have to feel it. Anything I do sing is part of my life.

In this country, don't forget, a habit is no damn private hell. There's no solitary confinement outside of jail. A habit is hell for those you love. And in this country it's the worst kind of hell for those who love you.

I'm always making a comeback but nobody ever tells me where I've been.

Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than enough.

Love is like a faucet, it turns off and on.

I can't stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession. If you can, then it ain't music, it's close order drill, or exercise or yodeling or something, not music.